Michael Kemp on Carol's new album CDawn

Good things are always worth waiting for. A glass of good wine, a handwritten letter from an old friend, a new collection of live recordings by Carol Grimes. And this is what we have, now, with the long-awaited "CDawn" set – two discs of extended workouts and improvisations recorded live at small jazz clubs in London, such as The Vortex and the 606 club. A fine package, decorated with chiaroscuro and exotic photographs by Kasia Hrybowicz.

Proceedings kick off in fine form with Neville Malcolm's steady measured bass leading confidently into a vocal re-styling of Miles Davis' "All Blues" (from Davis' classic "Kind of Blue" album) with lyrics courtesy of Oscar Brown Jr. Pianist Dorian Ford tinkling ivory and throwing his best Bill Evans shapes into a masterful and chromatic solo, greeted with rounds of spontaneous applause by the audience – Carol Grimes' voice here beckoning as smooth as silk, as sensual as smoke…